“It often happens that I wake up at night and begin to think about a serious problem and decide that I must tell the Pope about it. Then I wake up completely and remember that I am the Pope.“- Pope John XXIII
There something awesomely powerful about this quote.
It’s about knowing that the buck stops with you!
Scary?
Undoubtedly!
But read on.
Taking responsibility is a magnanimous concept.
If you see it as having to drag all your past mistakes into the present and take the blame for them, then taking responsibility is going to be a virtual impossibility. Who would want to put themselves through such a nightmare?
But taking responsibility is not about that.
Rather taking responsibility is about empowerment! By taking responsibility you empower yourself to create anything that you want.
It’s about using your head space to focus on how to get what you want – what you need to do to make the change.
I always remind my coaching clients that by coming to see me is a choice they made around taking responsibility. They decided they wanted to grow and develop and get support and encouragement.
In fact I have strong views that people who decide to go for coaching have empowered themselves. I even think that the difference between coaching and psychotherapy is around the responsibility concept.
If you haven’t ‘seen the light’ stay with your psych.
Self transformation is something that cannot be outsourced – it has to come from within.
When you are ready, go ahead.
In the meantime don’t forget to take responsibility for the cost of your inertia.
This cost is okay as long as you factor it in and refrain from beating yourself up about what you ought to be doing.
. . . . . . . Then take the plunge!